Street Lights
by lauraforeverxx
Summary: People aren't quite what they seem on the surface. Not everyone stays dead. I have included an introduction page with this story, as a quick "WARNING" before you indulge yourself with the adventure.
1. Introduction: Street Lights

**Introduction: Street Lights**

**BEFORE YOU START READING**, I need to ask you to **NOT** take this one too seriously.

_"Street Lights"_ is purely something that came out of my _INSANE_ imagination.

It doesn't make sense, nor does it follow any rules of logic.

So please, if you are going to read it, just clear your mind and let it come.

I'm really nervous that I'm going to get "okay that would NEVER happen" type reviews.  
So I'm sending out this fair warning before hand.

But I do sincerely hope you enjoy it. I had a lot of fun writing it. I created all these creatures,  
these places, these 'rules' to the world. It's very, um, unique to my personality.

Author:  
- Laura :)


	2. Chapter 1: Mike Warner

**CHAPTER 1: Mike Warner**

McGee put the last touches to his report before happily closing it and another file then stacking them on top of each other.

"Done!" he announced proudly with a smile on his face to reflect the enthusiasm in his voice.

Tony merely gave a disapproving glare and continued on with his own work while Ziva smiled then glanced to her computer screen for the time.

"You finished in record time McGee." She congratulated.

McGee packed up his belongs. "Yep. I'm up to date with all my paper work and will even be home in time for Magnum." He smirked and looked over to Tony.

Tony looked up again. He delivered an evil glare and said, "It's a repeat anyway!"

McGee laughed and headed for the elevator. "See you tomorrow, guys."

"Goodbye, McGee." Ziva said after a laugh.

Tony looked down at the file currently open in front of him. His eyes then showed him the three other files patiently waiting in a neat pile on the edge of his desk. Tony rolled his head over his shoulders and groaned.

"I'm never going to get this done tonight!" He complained.

Ziva grinned. "Well, it needs to be done and you said it yourself today, you are tired of staring at that pile."

Tony glared at Ziva, and then curled the ends of lips up enough for a brief half smile. "What are you still doing here anyway? You finished half an hour ago. You could be gone, home, having a warm shower then falling asleep in your comfortable bed." Tony closed his eyes and drifted off into his fantasies, leaving his reality behind.

Ziva placed her arms neatly together on her desk. "I am waiting for you."

Tony's eyes flicked back open. "Oh, are you now? Well, I hate to disappoint but…" he gestured to the files. "You know."

Ziva shrugged and fell back against her chair; resting her arms against the arms of her chair and letting her hair fall over her shoulders.

Once Tony was done undressing Ziva with his eyes, he gave her a small smile. "Are you really going to sit there promiscuously and make it harder for me to do my work?"

Ziva looked down to her side, pouting her lips and shrugging then looking back up at Tony with a smile that matched her body language. "I don't know, how long do you think you'll be?"

Tony focused his eyes carefully at Ziva, "You're mean." He said playfully.

After a beat, Tony looked to the file in front on him then to the files beside him. He thought for a moment. It was already night-thirty pm and the files weren't going anywhere.

Tony hit a few keys on his keyboard that automatically logged Tony off his computer and shut it down. He then clipped his pen to the top of the file he had been writing in then closed it and placed the file on top of the pile beside him.

"There's always tomorrow. Come on Israel, its way passed your bed time." Tony winked at Ziva and packed up his stuff.

Ziva picked up her bag and jacket and fell in step with Tony as they headed for the elevator.

The street they walked along was cold, dark and lunar. A brick wall lined one side of the footpath and parked cars lined the opposite side. Everyone at NCIS had to park in the street or blocks away from the office building, due to construction being down on the parking lot gates. It'd be a pain for all and many agents voiced their frustration throughout the day.

The moon was already high in the sky, making the night sky look even blacker. A few starts decorated the sky but the city lights seemed to shine out the nights glitter.

"So am I coming back to yours to help with the, uh, TV signal thing?" Tony stuttered.

Ziva smiled as they walked along the dark footpath. "Tony we are alone." She said, and then did a quick scope of their area to double check they in fact were.

"Oh?" Tony followed Ziva's eyes then stopped her from walking by tugging on her shoulder. "Good." He said as he grabbed her face and introduced their lips to each other for the first time today.

Ziva embraced the kiss and closed the gap between their bodies. After a minute they broke apart. They smiled and continued to walk.

"I've wanted to do that all day." Tony confessed, slipping an arm around Ziva's shoulders.

Ziva grinned, thinking the same thing. "It is still not time." She said, cozying into Tony's warm body.

"McGee knows." Tony protested.

"Yes. But we did not tell him." Ziva fell quiet. "Coming out about our relationship will impact everyone."

"You regret it?" Tony asked as calmly as possible, his heart skipping a beat as he spoke.

Ziva stopped walking. Tony stopped with her, his arm falling to his side, feeling the cold breeze against his side where Ziva had rested upon.

"No, Tony. I do not regret this. I do not regret us. I am just not ready for all the questions and scolding and lecturing." Ziva took a breath and sighed. "I am not ready to tell my father about us."

"Don't tell him." Tony said simply, looking across the street.

Ziva felt her shoulders drop. "He will find out. My father is very resourceful, as you know."

Tony met Ziva's eyes kindly. "Then what's the big deal about telling him?"

Ziva swallowed her argument and spoke strongly. "You already know the answer to that."

"So you don't want to tell him because I wear a cross and not star." Tony shrugged a shoulder and nodded his head, glancing away across the street again. After a moment he looked to Ziva and realized his words had upset her. Tony took a breath and felt his hand caress her arm. "I just don't understand why you care so much. I mean, didn't you come to America to get away from him? You never seemed to care about what he might think until now. What's changed?"

Ziva shrugged a shoulder; she couldn't meet Tony's eyes. "I just need more time."

Tony nodded, burying his protest and wrapping his arms around Ziva, who slid hers around him and rested her head against his chest.

"Okay. We'll come out when you're ready."

"Thank you." Ziva whispered into his chest.

A moment passed and the two looked up at each other without breaking their embrace on each other. They smiled and Tony felt his hands slip from Ziva's waist to her head as he leaned down for met her lips again.

The kiss didn't last as long this time. Tony broke away and released Ziva from his grip a few moments later.

"So, am coming to yours to help with the TV?" He smiled again, knowing TV fixing was not on the agenda tonight.

"No…" Ziva smiled. "I want to go to bed." She grabbed his jacket and banged her fists against his chest. "And if you come over I will not sleep."

"You'll sleep, just won't be for a while." Tony joked, his smile speaking louder than words.

Ziva let go and took a step back. "I will see you tomorrow."

It was then that Tony noticed Ziva's car parked quietly across the road. He groaned. "Ah! You got a park that close? I've still got a block to walk." He whined, looking down the dimly light street. His car was parked in a side street leading off this one.

Ziva laughed and started to walk off. "Goodnight Tony."

"Night," he replied.

Tony watched as Ziva hurried across the road and slid into her car. He waited until she drove before continuing to walk. With the lack of female company he was going to get tonight, all Tony wanted to do was go home and sleep, much like how Ziva was planning to spend her night.

Tony turned into a side street which he car was parked. He was less than a few feet from his car when he was forced against the brick wall beside him. Tony's head flew back and hit the hard bricks, sending an amazing pain through Tony's body.

Before Tony had time to react and fight back, a sharp pain in his stomach sent his body paralyzed. His attacker her driven a knife into Tony.

Tony gasped.

The attacker drove the knife deeper and twisted the handle as he got as close to Tony as possible.

Tony cringed and by now blood was started to leak out of the corner of his mouth.

"His name was Mike Warner." The man whispered into Tonys. "Mike Warner!" He hissed.

Tony met the cold eyes of the man. He opened his mouth to speak but the only thing that came out was more blood.

"Federal agent, back away and keep your hands where I can see them!" said a passing agent who saw the scene and immediately reacted.

The man stepped back and admired his work. He looked to the new Agent and after giving a smile to the gun the Agent was pointing at him, he took off down the street, leaving Tony with the knife in his stomach.

Tony fell to the ground, landing awkwardly against the wall with half his back against hanging off it. The agent holstered his weapon and pulled out his phone while he dropped to Tony's aid.

"Hang on DiNozzo." He hushed, holding the phone to his ear. "I need medical assistance on 8th and 2nd… That's right, outside the Washington Navy Yard. Hurry!" he closed his phone and reached out to Tony.

The Agent helped Tony sit up straight. Tony looked the opposite way and spat out a heap of blood from his mouth.

"Nice timing Derek." Tony mused, he looked down at the knife. He tried to take a breath In but the pain was unbearable. "Ah, fucking hell!" he yelled, letting his head fall against the brick wall.

"You'll be ok, just hang on. Paramedics are on their way." He reassured.

Tony's energy faded quickly, his breathing became short and slow. Derek noticed the change quickly.

"Tony? Come on stay with me, DiNozzo! You got to stay with me!" But Derek's voice was only a murmur to Tony. _"Tony..."_

The night seemed to get darker and darker, street lights blared and the sound of voices and cars around started to get fainter and fainter.

"_Tony? Sirens! I can hear Sirens! Just hold on a little longer…."_ Derek begged.

But all his energy was drifting from Tony's body. He closed his eyes and felt his whole body go numb. Until finally, there was nothing. The pain, the noises, it was all disappeared.

It was all gone, and so was Tony's life.


	3. Chapter 2: Cold Blood

**Chapter 2: Cold Blood**

The paramedics came and took Tony away, leaving Derek with the task of calling Vance and telling him what had happened. It wasn't a phone call he wasn't looking forward to and avoided it for a few minutes by collecting Tony's things and slowly walking back to the office building.

The next morning Ziva arrived shortly after McGee, who had arrived an hour after Gibbs.

"Good morning, McGee." Ziva said happily.

"Morning." McGee greeted back.

Ziva set her coat and back and logged into her computer. She was smiling with the corner of her bottom lip lodged between her teeth.

"What are you looking at?" McGee asked suspiciously, not entirely sure if he wanted to know the answer.

Ziva kept her eyes glued to the computer screen as she sat down. "It is Valentine's Day next week and I wanted to get _him _something he would despise."

McGee chuckled. "Why?"

Ziva considered her answer before looking over to McGee. "Every year, Tony complains that Valentine's Day is a waste of a celebration. This is our first Valentine's Day together and I want to make it a joke."

McGee grinned and nodded in understanding. "So what's your idea?"

Ziva shot her ninja eyes up at McGee. Before she had time to fill McGee in on her evil plan, Gibbs came torching in through the squad room. A hot coffee in one hand and his closed cell phone in the other.

"Come, on." He said, "Vance wants to see us."

Ziva and McGee stood and fell in step with their boss.

"Shouldn't we wait for Tony?" Ziva asked.

"Nah," Gibbs said. "We can fill him in later."

"Thank you, Agent Summers." Vance nodded towards Derek.

Derek nodded back and slid his hands together behind his back as the door to Vance's office flew open and Gibbs stepped through with McGee and Ziva following in closely behind. Ziva shut the door as joined McGee and Gibbs standing opposite Derek.

"You wanted to see us, Director." Gibbs said formally.

"I did. Take a seat."

The team took seats at the table. Gibbs and McGee took each head and Ziva sat neatly in front of the plasma.

Vance stood, walked around his desk and stood in a few feet from Derek.

"What I am about to tell you will be hard to hear. Before I tell you, I want you all to know you have the Agency's full support and grief consolers will be available to you."

"Grief consolers?" McGee whispered to Ziva, who shrugged as her answer.

"Just tell us, Vance." Gibbs ordered, not liking the buildup Vance was giving.

Vance waited a moment, building up the courage to say the words and not knowing whether to pronounce them separately or say it all in one go. His mind was made up a moment later.

"Special Agent DiNozzo was murdered last night."

Ziva's heart skipped a beat, McGee heard a loud bang go off in his head and Gibbs felt his body collapse inside him.

Vance took the silence as an opportunity to get the second part out. "He was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics at eleven-forty-five."

"What happened?" Gibbs asked finally asked, breaking the silence by asking a question on the trios mind.

"He was stabbed, sir." Derek spoke.

Gibbs stood and moved cautiously to Derek as he spoke. "You were there?"

"Yes Sir," Derek nodded. "But, I'm saddened to say I arrived at the scene too late."

Vance jumped in to defend Derek, "Agent Summers witnessed the attack, although he could not stop it, he was the one to call the paramedics and be with DiNozzo for his final moments." He said, as if that made the whole situation OK.

McGee looked from Vance to Ziva, who looked like she was taking in slow breaths and holding them for moments before letting the air go.

"Did you see the attacker?" Gibbs questioned.

"It was really dark, Sir. I didn't even realize it was Tony until I was beside him." Derek said, defending himself. Truth be told, Derek felt like he had failed Tony by not seeing the man. By not stopping the attack.

Ziva let out a breath, one she had been holding in the entire time Derek spoke. She sat in front of the plasma on the wall with McGee at the head of the table. McGee glanced at her and two briefly exchanged looks.

The attention went back to Derek but it was Vance who spoke. "Do you remember, anything, anything about the man who attc- killed Agent DiNozzo?"

Derek shock his head slowly, "it was really dark. Even in the dim lighting of the street lights, I could barley make out DiNozzo. I do remember the man was shorter then DiNozzo and had to elevate himself to be eye level with him."

"Who would want to kill Tony?" this was McGee who spoke. Asking a question on everyone's mind.

"Who ever he is, we need to find him." Ziva said, thinking best not to add her desire to kill the man as well.

"But why?" McGee continued. "Why Tony? What could he have possibly done to piss someone off _that _much? It just doesn't make any sense."

Gibbs turned softer eyes to McGee. "Doesn't matter. Ziva's right, we got to find this man. Get answers."

After a beat, Vance spoke. "The FBI will be all over this one. You may not have enough time to get a convincing case to keep the investigation ours."

Gibbs turned now to Vance. "A member of _my _team was murdered in cold blood! Let me talk to the Bureau. That's convincing enough!"  
Vance wasn't shifted by Gibbs' words like Ziva and McGee was. "Line your team up on the field Gibbs, let me handle the other teams coach."

Gibbs left after that, with McGee and Ziva following in step.

Once the doors were closed, Vance turned his attention to Derek. Poor Derek, had only been an Agent for less then 12 months and already was involved with something horrible as this. "You'll need to fill out a witness report but after that I want you to help Agent Gibbs in the investigation. You're the only one who witnessed the murder, you're valuable to the case."

Derek simply nodded and followed Gibbs and the team out. Now leaving Vance with the awful job of calling the Tony's father and informing him of his son's death.


	4. Chapter 3: Awake

**Chapter 3: Awake**

He gasped. Sucking in as much air as he could. A few more times he did this before he got his breathing under control. He was laying down. He looked at his surroundings. White walls. Nothing but white plain walls. Another scan of the room ensures him that no one else is there. He tries to sit up but the excruciating pain in his stomach prevents him from moving any further.

"I wouldn't try sitting up just yet." said a voice from behind his head.

He started panting and forced himself against the pain to sit up. He'd been lying on a sliver table. Like the ones in autopsy. So many questions ran through his head: what was happening? Where am I am? What happened? Who was talking to him?

The last question took priority. He shot his head around.

Vance? The two met eyes for a moment. Vance was holding something. Something he then chucked on the silver table. It was then he noticed he was naked.

Vance gestured to the clothes. "Go ahead. Put them on."

He grabbed the clothes and covered himself up. "I died."

"Yes," Vance agreed. "You did. But you're not dead now so put your clothes on and come with me."

He didn't move. "How can I be alive?"

Vance sighed. "DiNozzo, you're not alive." he took a step forward, "but you're not dead either." He said before Tony could protest.

Tony replayed Vance's words in his mind over and over. "But how?"

Vance gestured to the clothes in Tony's lap. "Get dressed." and without another word, he turned and left through a white door that slid open and slammed shut.

"So. I'm dead but I'm not dead? So what am I? Zombie or Vampire or something?"

Vance grinned with amusement. "Not exactly."

"But how does that work? How did you bring me back? Why did you bring me back? Oh god. I'm getting a headache." Tony put a hand to his forehead, following a step behind Vance as they walked down a long narrow white hall that didn't seem to have an end.

"Black magic." Vance glanced over his shoulder to see the look of sceptic-ness on Tony's face. He chuckled. "Who ever casts a spell over a someone who has died within forty-eight hours, can bring them back. Bring them back as a Hybrid. Which is what you are."

"I'm a what?"

"A hybrid." Vance repeated. "A supernatural creature that's brought back after dying a violent death. You're still in transition so don't go running off anywhere."

"Brought back by who?"  
Vance stopped to look at Tony, who almost ran straight into him. "Me."

They began walking again and it took Tony a few seconds to register the movement and tell his legs to walk again.

"Wait… You cast the spell? So what are you, like, a witch or something?"

Vance frowned. "You're asking a lot of questions."  
"I got a lot on my mind." Tony shot back in full Serious-Agent mode.

There was silence for a while as they turned into another sliding door which led them to another white room. This one was more decorated. A desk sat off one of the back wall with a complete Apple Mac set up and a man in a white lab coat sitting in front of it, fascinated by what ever was on the screen. Everything was white. Even the couch against a side wall and a book shelf on the opposite wall.

Once they were close to the centre of the room, the door slammed shut, revealing a mirror on the back of it.

Tony caught his reflection and went to go and take a closer examination. Vance stopped him and with a gentle force, spun him back around and pointed to the couch.

"Sit."

Tony hesitated but went and sat down as Vance was greeted by the man at the desk.

After short reunions, the man walked over to Tony and dropped down in front of him. Tony flinched when the man shone a bright torch to his eyes. It was only when the doctor took the torch away that he noticed how dimly light everything was.

"Hello Anthony. My name is Doctor Szlesky. I'll be mentoring your progress over the coming twenty-four hours."

"Progress? For what?" Vance's words quickly came back to him. _You're still in transition, so don't go running off anywhere._ Tony's eyes widened. "My transition? To some made up creature? Can someone please tell me what the hell is going on!"

Doctor Szlesky ignored Tony and went on as if he hadn't even spoken. "Two days ago you were stabbed on a side road on the way to your car. You bled out in minutes and died in the arms of new agent Derek Summers. Do you remember?"

Tony thought for a moment. He remembered the man who had stabbed him. _Mike Warner._ He remembered Derek trying to keep him calm. _Hang on Tony. You'll be ok just hang on._ Then he remembered the sharp pain he felt his side a few minutes ago.

Tony nodded. "Yeah."

"We'll need to run a few tests. Standard procedure I assure you. We will do everything in our power to keep you comfortable through the transition. We will supply you with the props you need and know that you will have two staff members watching you at all times. Even when you can't see them."

The doctor was a mid aged man with white hair, blue eyes and a decent British accent. Tony was reminded of Albert Einstein.

Tony gave Doctor Szlesky a half smile and a nod, showing he understood. "I just have one question. One, finale question."

"Of course."

Tony leaned forward a little. "What the _hell _ is going on! Explain to me what's happening. Why am I here! I should be autopsied and being prepped for my funeral!"

Doctor Szlesky stood back up and walked to the book shelf, retrieved a book and sat on the couch beside Tony.

After flipping through a few pages he finally found what he was looking for and handed the book to Tony. "Read, child."

Tony read over the paragraph which didn't answer anything. "It just says a Hybrid is born from death. Something only a male can come to and only a witch practising black magic can create." Tony glanced up to Vance with a sarcastic smile. "Guess that's what you are."

Doctor Szlesky tapping the bottom of the page. "No. Keep reading."

Tony did and what he read made his stomach turn. "So I am a Vampire." He said after moments of keeping his stomach down.

"No. A Vampire is something with sharp teeth who survives on blood lust and can not walk in the daylight. A hybrid possesses the speed of light, the strength of a thousand horses, the sight of a feline-"

"Who drinks blood and lives in darkness. Sounds like a Vampire to me- Argh!" Tony grabbed his head and let out a cry of pain. He brought his head down towards his knees as the pain only grew more intense and excruciating.

Vance and Doctor Szlesky remained calm and patient.

"Leon is right. You are still in transition. It work in a matter of stages. Stage one was you waking up. The rest only gets harder."

By now Tony was gripping his hair and holding deep breaths. His face was turning red but it wasn't his skull that was hurting him. It was his eyes. It was as if someone had hands inside his head and was pulling them back into his skull. His vision became blury. Tony shut his eyes and cried out again.


	5. Chapter 4: Sober Tears

**Chapter 4: Sober Tears**

"Where are they holding the funeral?" McGee asked in a soft voice across the bullpen.

"Ah…" Ziva took a breath and quickly wiped a tear that had escaped her eye. She forced a smile at McGee. "No funeral. A memorial. In Washington park." Her smile faded and her eyes fell back to Tony's desk.

McGee swallowed, seeing through the smile and chipper tone Ziva forced in her voice. He stood and walked over to her, letting his eyes glance his late partners desk. He took a breath and rested a hand on Ziva's shoulder.

"You need anything, Ziva. I'm here for you."  
Ziva covered McGee's hand with her own and smiled up at him. A real smile this time.

"I know how close you two were." McGee finished.

Ziva chuckled. "Closer then you two were?"

McGee smiled. "Well, I wasn't sleeping with him."

Ziva felt her head rock back and fourth although she found the comment amusing rather then defensive.

"Where are we on the case?" Gibbs barked as he came rolling in with Derek closing following.

McGee hurried back over to his desk, grabbed a piece of paper, the plasma remote and met Gibbs at the TV beside his desk.

"Ah, well. We might have a lead on who the guy is who killed Tony."  
"Might!" Gibbs hissed, getting right up in McGee's face.

McGee hesitated, preparing himself for what ever trauma he was about to receive from Gibbs. "Normally I would correct myself and say we do have a lead but in all honestly Gibbs. It's really a narrow road we're driving down. It was really dark and cornered off. The only footage of the attack is from a security camera from a building across the road on the eight story up. You see Tony turn the street then you see Derek reacting but you can't see the attack. I'm sorry."

Gibbs took a deep breath before turning and sitting down at his desk. "Have Abby inhance it or something."  
"I've already got her working on it."

Gibbs nodded in appreciation at McGee who sighed in relief and sat back down at his own desk.

It wasn't until then anyone noticed Derek. Standing awkwardly in the centre of the squad room.

"Ah… Agent Gibbs?"

"What!" Gibbs banged his desk and looked up.

"Wh… what do yo… you want me to… to do?" He was nervous, and being nervous caused him to lose himself on his train of thought.

After a moment, Gibbs looked away. "Ziva. McGee you remember Derek."

"Yes." Ziva smiled politely at him.

"Yeah." Said McGee in a less happier tone.

"He's been assigned to us by Vance." Gibbs told.

Ziva smiled again, giving the warm welcome McGee didn't.

"What?" McGee stood up. "Why? Gibbs we don't need him, we function fine with three members, we don't need a forth. Especially when Tony's been dead less then forty-eight hours and already they're sending us his replacement!"

"No. Not his replacement." Derek defended, before anyone else could jump in. "I don't wish to replace Agent DiNozzo. I could never. Director Vance thinks it would be in everyone's best interest if I simply helped. Since I…"

"Was the last one to see Tony alive." Ziva said softly. "And who watched him die." Her voice became croaky and broken.

Gibbs looked over and saw the tears flooding under her eyes and all the strength she was using not to let them fall.

McGee settled and sat down.

"Abs!" Gibbs said in a strong voice as he walked in cautiously, holding a Caf-pow and finding the eerie silence suspicious. She was standing by her computer. "Abby?" Gibbs said in a softer tone walking up to her.

He put the drink beside her key board and rubbed her back.

"How are you?" Gibbs asked quietly. There was no need to speak above the music today. Since there wasn't any music to speak above.

"I can't do it Gibbs. I can't." She said, her voice was about as croaky and broken as Ziva's.

"Do what?"

"If I do it," she went on as if Gibbs hadn't said a word. "If I do this… I'll see Tony." She turned and looked at Gibbs. She wasn't using any strength like Ziva to keep her tears hidden, they fell down like tiny rivers over her cheeks. "I'll watch him die." She shook her head and Gibbs brought her in for a comforting embrace. Abby buried her face in his shoulder. "I can't watch Tony die, Gibbs." She sobbed into his shoulder. "I can't."


	6. Chapter 5: Logic

**Chapter 5: Logic**

Tony woke laying on yet another bed. Only this time he was clothed and the bed wasn't a metal table. It was a proper matrass. A canvas bed. And just like everything else he'd seen so far, everything was white. The sheets, the pillow, the arm chair across the room, the walls. It was all white. Tony thought they were trying to rip off a set from a movie, but his head hurt too much to try and find a connection.

He sat up and let all the walls down in his mind, letting any pain his body had endured all come back to him.

His stomach was the first thing to hurt. Then his forehead and temples, reminding him what latest pain he had felt and where. But his vision was fine. There was no about-to-explode feeling in his head anymore, he figured he must of passed out because he had no memory of moving rooms or falling asleep.

Tony stood up and explored the room. There wasn't much to explore. The bed and chair were the only things in the room. He couldn't even see the door, which he'd noticed earlier that doors around here didn't have any gaps around them. It was as if the doors were created as they were needed.

He sunk into the chair, finding it about as uncomfortable as the canvas bed.

_And know that you will have two staff members watching you at all times. Even when you can't see them. _

"Hello!" Tony yelled at the room, hoping for some sort of response from these observing members that were apparently watching him. "Vance! Anyone!"

Nothing.

"Got anything to eat? My appetites up. Haven't eating in two days!"

Silence.

"Could really use a pizza!"

Nothing.

Tony gave up and searched the roof of the room. It was as dimly light as the other rooms he noticed, but even with a great lack of lighting, Tony could see everything as clear as day.

It was strange to him for a moment before he was distracted by a tightness in his throat and his ears became blocked. He tried to cough the feelings away and swallowed repeatedly to unblock his ears. No use.

Tony got the feeling of being claustrophobic in his own body, until he heard echoing voices. Voices he couldn't see who they belonged too.

"How's he coming along?" he heard a familiar male voice ask.

Doctor Szlesky.

"Good. Looks like he's entering stage three right now. Which means he can hear us." said a female voice.

"Excellent. Yes. Excellent." Doctor Szlesky replied. "He's coming along perfectly."

He didn't hear any more voices after that. Just the shutting of a door.

The need for food rushed back to him. Now he was certain there were people there, watching him, but refused to think logically about how he could even hear them through walls.

He was beginning to find the need for answers was pointless. No one was going to answer any of his questions. He had to get out, and he was already thinking of a plan. But for the mean time, his body was screaming at him for the one thing he loved more then sex: food.

"Hey! I wasn't kidding earlier! I'm going to die if I don't get food. A human can only go three days without food before they die."

He thought that was stupid after he said it. He wasn't even technically human anymore. Humans die and stay dead. They don't usually wake up two days later.

Unlike last time, he got an answer. Not a verbal one but the message was still the same.

A slot in the wall opened up and a ledge shot out into the room with a tray of steaming food sitting on it.

For a moment Tony was in awe but pushed the moment aside and crossed the room in a blink of an eye.

A burger, salad, water bottle, bread and two slices of peperoni pizza all sat on individual plates.

Tony polished off everything in ten minutes. Even the bread and salad. The food was like heaven on a plate. Amazing food that melted in his mouth.

Once he was finished, he walked back over to the chair with the bottle of water. He figured if he wasn't going to get fed on a regular basis he should at least keep a water with him, he would survive on that.

As quickly as the tray of food was delivered, it was sucked away.

After a minute, Tony got an idea. He slouched down on the chair so his stomach was a flat surface. He lifted the t-shirt up high enough to see where he was stabbed. Only there was nothing there. No wound, no bruising. Not even an indication where the knife had entered. It was completely healed.

He ran a hand over where he knew he'd been stabbed. No pain. He pushed two fingers against the spot as hard as he could but nothing shot back at him.

He sat back up and let his shirt go. Things seemed to be getting weirder and weirder.

Tony took a deep breath, only now letting everything sink into him. He was stabbed. He died. But then he woke up. Now he was some sort of un-natural thing. Something no one was telling him about! But why? The biggest question was why?

And Vance. That was another thing bothering Tony. It was all Vance!

He took a sip of water and let his head fall back against the wall. He closed his eyes and thought of Ziva. Ziva, the woman he'd been in love with for years. The woman he'd finally opened up too and confessed everything, even the feelings he had for her. The woman who was probably mourning his death.


	7. Chapter 6: Good vs Evil

**Chapter 6: Good vs. Evil **

Vance sat in his office, reading over files of new possible new agents when his office door flew open and a tall black man with white bleach hair and crystal blue eyes walked into the office.

"Have you completely lost your mind Leon!" the man shut the door before walking up to Vance's desk. "I thought you were done with this."  
"Elijah, we have been waiting for a chance like this for years!" Vance argued.

"He's a US Federal Agent Leon! He's not a toy he's an important asset to America!"

"And now an important asset to me. Look he had the right calcifications. Health. Physical. He was in perfect condition."

Elijah waved his hand towards the door. "And you just thought you'd just kill him and cross your fingers he woke up."

Vance grinned.

Elijah sighed and sat down. "So what is you master plan, Leon?"

Vance smiled and glanced down. "DiNozzo will experience stage five within a few hours, you think you could-"  
"Yeah, yeah." Elijah stood up, waving his hand at Vance. "I can get the stuff. I hope you realize just how important this is." Now Elijah turned back to Vance.

Vance nodded. "I do."

Elijah nodded back and left the office.

Vance laughed to himself. He had accomplished something others could only dream about.

Elijah passed the squadroom on the way to the elevator. Only Derek was pondering around the desks.  
"You son," Elijah called as he stepped into the squadroom.

Derek quickly closed the file he had been reading. "Can I help you, Sir?"

"Yes you can." Elijah flicked a finger towards him. "You can tell me where Special Agent DiNozzo's desk is."

Derek hesitated, "Can I ask why you're interested in it, Sir?"

Elijah walked up to Derek so they were only a foot apart. E made eye contact with the rookie Agent. "Which one is DiNozzo's desk?"

After a beat, Derek pointed to Tony's desk. "There, Sir" he said. Almost robotically.

Elijah looked to the desk then smiled at Derek. "Thank you son."

Elijah walked and sat down at Tony's desk. Derek was puzzled for a moment but didn't say anything. He opened the file and continued reading, something in his head told him it was perfectly normal for this man to be here.

Elijah searched through the draws looking for photos. He finally found a couple in a third draw. One was of a room full of people. Some were dancing, others were standing in groups talking and they were all holding bottles and cans of alcohol. The second photo was a shot of the entire team together at a bar. Tony in between Abby and Ziva, McGee next to Abby and Gibbs beside Ziva with Ducky and Jimmy crowding in.

Elijah put the other photo back and took the team shot into his pocket. He stood up and walked back over to Derek, looking him in the eyes again. "You will forget seeing me here, today."

Derek only nodded, staring at Elijah in a trance. Elijah left the squad room and then finally the building.

"Abby, what are you trying to say? Just spit it out." Gibbs promted.

Abby stopped her babble and smiled. "I had a theory,"  
"Theory's are always good." Gibbs added.

"The other end of the street Tony was killed on is well lit up. The killer ran down towards the lights so I hacked into the security cameras on the other end of the street hoping to see the mans face bright and clear."

"And..?" Ziva asked.  
Abby had been standing at her main computer in the middle of Gibbs and Ziva, with McGee looking at all three of them from the other side of the computer desk.

Abby turned her proud grin to Ziva, "He wasn't there."

Gibbs sighed and started to walk out of the lab, "thanks anyway, Abs."  
Abby caught his arm and hauled him back. "I'm not done." She typed in something to the computer and suddenly the screen was showing a view of the street from the opposite angel. She played the footage for a moment, long enough for the gang to see a car pull out into the intersection.

"Fifteen seconds after Tony was stabbed and the killer took off, this Black Chevy Suburban pulled out of the street and headed left, down to the by pass. "

Gibbs walked around the plasma with the still of the car. "You got a plate?"  
"I do. I ran it and it belongs to… wait for it…" Everyone turned to face Abby, who's proud grin had grown even more. "The one and only: Director Leon Vance."  
The gang grew silent for a moment until Gibbs spoke up. "Abby, if this is a joke-"  
"It's not. Look!" Abby pulled up the registration on the screen. "He purchased this car and three other Chevy's in two-thousand and three."  
"What does he need them for?" Ziva asked.

Gibbs took one last look at the registration and left the lab.

Once Gibbs left, McGee quickly spoke up.  
"So, does this mean Vance knows who killed Tony?"  
"McGee, " Abby looked over her computer at him. "I think the question you should be asking is, does this mean Vance is behind who killed Tony."  
"But why would Vance want Tony dead?" Ziva asked.

Abby shrugged. "I don't know but if you ask me, I'm getting really confused on who the good guys these days. I mean if Vance is supposed to be one of us then he's a good guy right? But if he's our boss and he's killing people, does that mean we're working for the bad guys?"

Ziva and McGee fell silent, now wondering the same thing.

"Abby, pull of Agent Derek Summers' file." McGee asked as he walked around to stand beside Abby.

"You think Derek is in on it?" Ziva asked.

"I don't know. But if Abby's right and Vance is one of the bad guys, then what's Derek got to do with it?"  
"Maybe nothing." Abby said as she pulled up his file for McGee.

"No, Vance has been shoving Derek down our throats. He desperately wants him in our team and if he killed Tony do it, I want to know what's so fucking good about him."

Tony's breathing became short panting. His hair line was beginning to sweat and his head felt like It was on fire. He was sitting on the floor against the wall opposite the cheap fold out bed. He didn't understand what was happening, and despite how many times he yelled and screamed for answers, no one would give them to him.

Suddenly the wall slide open across the room and Dr Szlesky walked through, wearing the same white lab coat as he did before.

"What's happening to me?" Tony breathed, still panting and feeling his body go numb as if he was about to pass out.

"You are entering stage five." Dr Szlesky replied as he took a seat on the bed.

Tony noticed the secret door was still open. If he got up and moved quickly he could escape, granted he didn't know his way out but he'd fight and search until he did. But before he could move, the door slid closed. It wasn't a great lose, he knew Dr Szlesky would have to leave sooner or later and when he didn't, the door would open again.

"What the hell's stage five?" Tony asked through breaths.

Dr Szlesky didn't answer, instead he pulled out a water bottle filled with red liquid from his coat and sat it on the ground beside Tony's legs. "You'll need to drink this."  
Tony eyed the bottle, "what the hell is it?"

"You'll know when you drink."

Tony shook his head. "No, I'm not touching that."

The Doctor sighed, "You must, if you do not drink it, when you hit the peek of stage five you will be in the most pain you have every experience in your life." He paused, "And then we will be forced to make you drink this."

Tony stared at the doctor. Did he really think that would make him pick up the bottle and scull?

"You know, you must not know me very well." Tony mocked.

"Oh on contrary. I know you quite well. Yes, let's see. You were born and raised in Long Islands, New York. Born into a wealthy family but cut off from any inheritance. Your mother committed suicided when you were eight, she couldn't handle your father I suppose."  
"You don't know shit about my Mom!" Tony growled.

"Oh well I can see why, he used to beat your mother repeatedly,"  
"Just shut up" Tony warned.

"And once she was gone he turned his abusive behaviour to you. How many times a month were you in the hospital because you had, 'fallen down stairs'? Three? Four times?"  
"Just shut up!" Tony yelled and jumped to his feet. "You don't know anything! You don't know shit about my Mom and you don't know shit about me!"

Dr Szlesky smiled and stood up, showing Tony he wasn't afraid of him. "Well I can also see why you decided to join the force. You wanted to protect people from people like your father. Because the police didn't do anything about your father, they didn't protect you and you didn't think that was right."

Tony laughed, finding this whole thing unbelievable. "You know if you weren't the only who could tell me what the hell is going on with, I'd be beating you to a pulp right now."  
"You would hurt an old man?" Tony fell silent and Dr Szlesky drew up another fact he knew about Tony. "There which in lies your expressive nature to act out violently."  
"Yeah well that happens when you grow up with someone who's form of 'punishment' is beating you until you're unconscious lying in a bloody mess rather then sending you to the naughty corner." Tony regretted the words the moment he said them. He'd never spoken about his childhood to anyone like this and now he was telling a complete stranger?

Dr Szlesky nodded and pointed to the bottle, "drink. Sooner now before you reach the peek." He turned and headed back towards the door he had come through.

"I told you I'm not touching that."  
Dr Szlesky turned around, "and I told you, if you do not drink we will force you too. And I assure you boy, we do not show mercy when we are forced to do something."

Tony watched the door opened. This was it, he would take the chance. He was still panting and still had the feeling of passing out any moment, but he could draw enough strength to get out.

Tony side stepped to the left then reached forward for Dr Szlesky. He wrapped an arm around his neck and slammed his head into the wall, knocking him out in a matter of seconds.

Tony had no time to waste, he slid through the door moments before it was completely shut. Outside the door was the another narrow hall way. Tony hurried down it, having to knock out another man along the way until finally he reached a section with options. He found himself at a cross roads, with hall ways going in every direction. But as he heard voices from behind him, he knew he had to make his decision now. He shot down the left corridor and was thankful to see real doors with door handles and everything. He turned into the first door he saw.

A woman sitting at a computer desk gasped and shot up from her seat.

"It's ok, I'm not going to hurt you." Tony reassured.

"You shouldn't be here." The woman replied, slowly taking small steps away from Tony.

"Help me get out." The woman shook her head. "Come on! Just help me get out and you'll never see me again."

The woman hesitated. "You're the Hybrid."

"Yeah, now help me."

"You shouldn't be here," She repeated.

Tony got frustrated but didn't want to do anything to scare the woman. She only looked about twenty and didn't seem like the crazy serious people who were dealing with him. She had long brown hair, green eyes and fair skin. She didn't wear a white lab coat but her black vest said "Genetics Restyle Research" in blue metallic threading.

"What's your name?" Tony asked, his negotiating skills kicking in.

"Erica."  
"Hi, Erica. I'm Tony. Please, I need your help. Just … help me get out of this place. I can take it from there." Tony reached forward, "Please. Will you help me?"

Erica sighed, she was a sucker for helping people. She looked up to a screen hanging in a roofs corner. "They have those screens all over the building. Everyone knows what you look like. So, getting you out will be hard."  
"but not impossible."

"Tony, If I help you. They will kill me."  
"I won't let them. I'll keep you safe and if you're that concerned, I can take you with me. Wait, why would they kill you?"

"Well partly they can't fire me because I could go the media or something about what they do here. But the main reason is…" she took a breath. "I'm a Hybrid. Like you."


	8. Chapter 7: Bitter Sweet Misjudgement

**Chapter 7: Bitter Sweet Misjudgement**

"You're stealing a car!" Erica hissed as Tony hot wired a Falcon sitting amongst many cars in an underground car park.

"Oh I'm sorry, would you rather we walk?" Tony asked sarcastically.

Erica sighed and looked back to the set of double doors that could open and let lose an army of guards any moment. "Just hurry up."

Tony scoffed and one last flick sent the car roaring. Tony stood up out of the car. "Ah-ha! Look at me, hot wiring cars. I feel like Bruce Willis in Die Hard."  
Erica rolled her eyes and ran around to the passenger seat. "Shut up and just get us out of here."

Tony got the car going and after driving up three levels they finally came to an exit. Although it wasn't as simple as driving straight out.

A man in a thick drench coat stepped out into the road.

"What do we do?" Tony asked, debating whether to take his chances running the guy over or playing nice and praying he didn't know he was the about-to-be escape science project.

Tony brought the car to a stop, adrenaline was rushing through him, which numbed everything else he had been feeling. Tony just wanted to put this in his review mirror, he believed everything would be ok once he was out. Although a part of him told him he was dreaming if that's what he was expecting to happen.

The man strolled around the driver's window. Tony swallowed and rolled the window down when the man tapped his ring on it.

"What are your orders?" he asked.

"Just escorting Miss Erica to the nearest drug store. Lady stuff, you know how it is." Tony said, completely winging everything and crossing his fingers hoping that it would work.  
"Hybrids aren't supposed to leave the premises."  
Tony hesitated, he looked to Erica then back to the man. "I have special orders."  
"From who?"  
"Leon Vance."  
The man took a breath and after a moment he nodded to another man who was sitting beside a lever. He nodded back and yanked the lever toward him, and suddenly the roller door in front of them lifted. Revealing a perfect night sky.  
"Be quick. There's a twenty-four hour superstore around the corner." he advised.

Tony nodded, "Thanks."

The man walked away and Tony drove out.

"We have a lead on the case." Gibbs informed after he and Vance has finished discussing Agent Summers, a replacement for Tony and Tony's memorial arrangement.

Vance raised his eye brows, "A lead?"  
"Yeah," Gibbs lifted a remote from Vance's desk and clicked it towards the plasma screen. The same footage Abby had shown of the Chevy leaving. "This black Chevy Suburban left the street Agent DiNozzo was killed it almost fifteen seconds after the attack."

Vance nodded, intrigued but stayed quiet.

Gibbs stood tall and firm in front of Vance, "Abby ran the plates and got a hit." He pointed behind him at the plasma, "That car, it belongs to you, Leon." Gibbs dropped the remote back on Vance's desk.

"I don't know what you're talking about Gibbs, you've seen my car." Vance defended, wanting Gibbs to leave soon so he could make a very angry phone call.

"Don't bullshit with me Leon! I'm not going to look the other way for anyone!" Gibbs yelled.

"Agent Gibbs, please. Mind your tone." Vance said calmly.

"Mind my tone? What?" Gibbs curled his face in anger, "Listen to me Leon. I don't care if you're the Director of this Agentcy, if you had something to do with Tony's death I promise you, I will bring you down."

Vance sat forward and crossed his arms over the desk. "Agent Gibbs, I think you should go on leave. Take a few weeks off. The death of your Agent has clearly taken a strong impact on you and you're connecting dots that don't exist with invisible lines. It must be hard, losing someone you've known for so long and have gotten to know so well over many years and for them to suddenly not be there anymore. I understand what that feels like Gibbs, but as of now I am benching you and your team from investigating this any further. Tell your team to go home and rest. I don't want to see you or your team back here until the death of Special Agent DiNozzo has been closed."  
Gibbs didn't move, he didn't know what to say. He didn't know whether to lash out with his mouth or his fists. He just stood there, shocked and stunned at what Vance had said. Some parts of it were true, Gibbs was acting irrational because it was Tony, and why wouldn't he? He had treated Tony like a son and over the years that father/son relationship had become so strong and real. Gibbs knew all this but he didn't care. He meant what he said, if Vance had something to do with it, he was going to take him down, no matter who he had to go too.

Vance took a breath and stood up from his desk, looking directly at Gibbs. "Go home Agent Gibbs. Tell your team to do the same. You're exhausted, warn out and stressed. You're working yourself too hard and you all need to catch up on much needed rest."  
Gibbs suddenly had a change of heart, his anger faded away and desperately wanted to go home and sleep for days.

Gibbs nodded, "Yeah, yeah that sounds like a good idea."  
Vance smiled and gave Gibbs a nod. "Wise choice."

Gibbs nodded again as he left.

Once they were down the road, Tony let out a sigh of relief. "I got to tell you, for a moment there I thought we were screwed."

Erica breathed a small laugh.

Tony glanced at her and then back to the road. "So um, what's happening to me? I mean, I know I'm becoming a Hybrid and If I am a Hybrid, a hybrid of what?"  
Erica took a breath and stared out the window, "No. Before the hybrid became a modern word for combining two things together it was known as a mythical creature. Folk law. Just stories from our the first people on earth. We're the children species to Vampires, minus the teeth though, unfortunately. But we do need a healthy supply of blood for our bodies to function normally, we just have to use knifes and things."  
Tony took a breath, ignoring the last parts. "I thought all that stuff was made up. Just something people said to make Halloween more exciting." Tony questioned. He had been apposed to anything paranormal and supernatural his entire life and now he was supposedly in one of the categories? It felt all very ironic to him.  
"But what's happening to you is a mystery," Erica continued, ignoring Tony. "they only know as much as we know, which is probably why they didn't answer any of your questions. See, they have this book and the book is thousands of years old. Inside it is a spell to bring a person back from the dead but they have to of had died violently and you have to say the spell over their dead body within the forty-eight hour window of the person dying. But the spell can't be said by just anyone, it has to be done by a fourth generation warlock. Which is the male version of a witch. Anyway, then the book goes on to list the stages. Stage one was waking up, stage two is vision, three is hearing, four is speed and strength and five…"

"Five?" Tony looked between the road and Erica. "What's stage five? That's what I'm going through right now."  
"No one knows. The book has the title 'STAGE FIVE' but nothing's written underneath. Then there's nothing after that."

"So what, who ever wrote the book just stopped?"  
Erica nodded.

"Hey wait a second, I thought a Hybrid was only a male species?"  
Erica laughed and looked at Tony like he was an idiot. "Is that what they told you?" She laughed more then finally stopped. "No, let me guess. They showed you an old torn leather book? Right? Black with gold embedded writing?"

Tony recalled the book he had read from and nodded. "Yeah, that's the one. Why do you know so much about this and I'm still in the dark?"  
"Well, once you complete the transition and go through a further week of observation. They give you leave way and you get to snoop around. I can tell you though, once you pass stage five and get onto the good stuff, you'll be able to do amazing things like control peoples minds and posses all five elements."  
Tony again pushed the extra details aside, all he wanted to know was the basics. "How long? I mean, how long have you been a Hybrid?"  
Erica took a deep breath and rested her head against the window. "I died a year ago. Car crash. To be honest, I could of kissed Vance when he brought me back."  
Tony tightened his face, "why?"  
Erica hesitated, she looked to Tony and met his eyes. "Because I have a son. My son was the only one who survived the crash, me and my husband died. The way I see it, Vance gave me a second chance at life."

"I'm sorry." Tony said sympathetically.

Erica forced a half smile. "It's ok. I just want to see him again."  
"You haven't seen him since?" Tony asked, shocked.

Erica shook her head with her lips pressed together. "Nope. They don't let you leave. They can't risk any Hybrids getting out."  
Tony scoffed, "yeah well their security could use a bit of work."

Erica smiled, a genuine smile this time. She took a deep breath and wished for a change in subject. "So, where are we going?"

Tony shrugged. They had gotten on the by pass and were heading back into Washington D.C. Where they had been kept was far out of the city and away from any major civilization. It'd be at least a two hour drive before they even saw sight of the city again.

"My place, I guess."

"No." Erica snapped. "We can't go there. Vance has a small team of Agents inside the city who know about all this. He probably already is well aware of our escape and has debriefed the agents. He would have a couple staking out your apartment and your co-workers. And any hotels or hostels in the area."

"And how could you possibly know all this."

Erica calmed down, "I used to work at NCIS. But, completely different building to you."

"So… what? Vance is killing off Agents to start his own little Army?"  
Erick scoffed. "Little?"  
"Well.. How many people has he turned?"

Ericka thought about it for a moment, "I've only met about fifteen of them, but there are others. All over the world. Some have been around for years and they've gained control of everything. They're like weapons."

"Great" Tony said sarcastically. "So where do we go?"  
Erica sunk back into the leather seat, "somewhere quiet."

They checked in to a small motel about fifty minutes from the city. Neither of them had any money on them but Erica seemed to convince the very tired desk clerk that they could stay for a few nights. He gave them a room with two queen beds and Erica signed them both in under different names.

As Erica feel asleep almost instantly, Tony was having trouble. He paced around the room for a bit and debating whether going outside to use the pay phone. He shoved the idea aside, remembering he didn't have any money and knowing if he called anyone, they'd just think it was someone prank calling.

Tony sat on the bed and even with the lights off, he could see Erica facing the wall and her back to him. She was sound asleep. Tony looked up to the clock above the two beds. It had been well over twenty four hours since he'd woken up from dying. Vance had said the transition would take twenty-four hours, so, does this mean it was over? He hadn't experienced the painful ride Dr Szlesky had promised so did that mean he had gone through the transition smoothly?

A sudden cough that reminded Tony of having the plague, shot down his high hopes. He coughed again and again and not wanting to wake Erica up, he moved into the bathroom and closed the door. It was pitch black so Tony flicked the lights on, although the second he did it felt like he was staring directly at the sun. He flicked the lights back off and sat against the wall beside the shower.

Taking in deep breaths, he barried the cough for now. Moments later a ringing came from the other room.

Tony shot out of the bathroom and answered it before Erica woke up from her much needed sleep.

He held the phone to his ear but didn't manage two words in when the person on the other lines spoke immediately as the phone was answered.

"God sakes Erica, tell me he's still with you!" Vance growled from the other line.

Tony didn't say anything. His head stared to get hot and his heart started to race.

"Well we have people coming to your location now, nice move on using the backup plan."

Tony shot his eyes to Erica. Traitor! She had been leading them straight to him. She wasn't helping him escape, she was helping them capture him.  
"Erica? Erica you there?" Vance paused and moment later he spoke again in a different tone. "DiNozzo…"

Tony hung up the phone quickly. He took another look at Erica before snatching the eyes from the bench and quietly sneaking out of the motel room.

But once he got to the car he realized she would have told them what they were driving. Tony scanned the parking lot but knew he couldn't take a ride from here, they'd look at security cameras and see the car leaving.

Tony headed to the streets and hotwired a blue Honda City almost a block from the motel.

McGee arrived home to a pitch black apartment. After taking two steps through the door he got a sickly feeling in his stomach. A headache came quickly followed by a slight dizzy sensation.

He pushed the sensations aside and dropped his bag by the door and his keys on the kitchen bench, but as he turned back to close the door, he saw a shadow move from behind his bookshelf. As he turned back from the door he drew his weapon and aimed it towards the darkness.

"Who's there?" he called and got no immediate reply. He wasn't convinced it was nothing and didn't lower his weapon. He called again and this time the shadow moved towards the opening gap between the shelf and the wall.

"Relax, McGee." said a low and breaking voice. "It's me."

McGee squinted his eyes, tighter and tighter and the more he focused, the stronger his headache, sick feeling and dizzy sensation increased. "Tony?"


	9. Chapter 8: Sunlight

**Chapter 8: Sunlight**

It couldn't be true. It was impossible. But somehow, here he was.

McGee reached over and flicked on the light, much to Tony's gratitude McGee had set them low to assist the comfort of his writing.

"Yeah," Tony's voice was croaky and broken. Reminding McGee of how he sounded in Somalia. After the third day there was a noticeable difference in Tony's voice, a difference McGee was hearing now. "It's your friendly neighbourhood watch." Tony joked and fell softly against the wall with his arms crossed.

McGee was still holding his gun strong and firm in Tony's direction and without realizing it, he had moved the barrel with every move Tony made, as if the gun was on auto lock.

"How… You died?" McGee didn't quite know what he wanted to say, so many things were running through his mind and his mouth was failing to delivering the thoughts.

Tony breathed a quick laugh, "yeah, isn't that a bitch."

McGee slowly and cautiously lowered his weapon, put the safety lock on and set it back in its holster. The headache was slowly disappearing, the sick feeling in his stomach decreased but didn't fully fade and the dizzy sensation didn't seem to budge in the slightest.

McGee took a deep breath and staggered into the kitchen.

Tony spoke up, knowing McGee would be having so many things run through his mind now. "Hey, I know…"

He took a step closer but McGee held his hand up slightly off the support of the bench top. Tony understood the message and came to a complete halt, understanding that McGee was still in shock and needed room to think.

Tony took a breath as McGee stared blankly at the bench top. He opened his mouth to say something but was caught when a sudden furious and vicious coughing attack struck. Within seconds Tony was on his knees holding his chest.

McGee pushed all his thoughts aside, poured a glass of water and was on his knees beside Tony as quickly as he'd fallen.

McGee helped Tony sit up against the wall and once the coughing stopped he offered the water.

Tony shook his head. "It won't help."

"It might."

McGee pushed the water forward and after sharing a look with Tony and a silent debate between the two, Tony took the water and drank.

"Why won't it help?" McGee asked, sitting against the bookshelf opposite Tony.

Tony looked at McGee, now debating against himself whether or not to tell him. Tony shook his head and looked away.

"Tony, you have no idea how much I am freaking out right now. Vance pulls us all into his office and tells us you were murdered. Then we heard the story from Derek. And we've been working our asses off trying to find the murdered and just when we get a lead, Gibbs tells us to all go home and mourn your death like normal people. And then I come home and find you standing in my apartment!" McGee paused, seeing guilt reflect over the dim light illuminating Tony's features. "A little honestly. Tony, would be really great."

Tony took a breath and hesitated before looking back at McGee. "You really want to know?"

"Yes,"

Tony took another breath, "Ok. I'll tell you. But don't say I didn't warn you." And with that, Tony told him the story. Everything from being stabbed and dying, waking up and going through the changes, to the escape.

It took McGee a few minutes to fully register everything, and even when he thought he had his head around it, there were still so many questions and so many things that didn't make sense.

"So.." McGee took a second to think over what he was going say. "You're a… "

"Hybrid." Tony ended.

"And, what is that again?"

Tony took a breathing, he only had to go off what Erica had told him and after finding out she was only helping him to keep tabs on him, Tony wasn't sure what she told him liable. But it was all he had. "Sort of a cross between a Vampire and a Witch. The children of Vampires and the cousins of Witches."

"Ok," McGee said through a breath.

Tony rolled his head against the wall to look at McGee. He laughed and explained further. "Just picture a Vampire, minus the teeth, being able to use the elements."

McGee nodded, although he wasn't sure why when he was still fazed by everything. "And Vance? You mentioned Vance. What's his part in this?"

"All I know is what I just told you. I woke up, he was there. He told me he was the one who brought me back and turned me into this."

"But why?"

Tony scoffed. "Your guess is as good as mine."

A moment later McGee spoke up again, "you said Erica told you Vance would have Agents all over the place right? Patrolling places you're likely to go. So then how did you manage to get here and not get caught?"

Tony brought one knee up to his chest and rested his fore arm against it. "I don't know. Maybe that was a load of shit, just like her helping me to escape was."

"You lost him!" Vance raged. Every inch of him was filled with anger making him bang his fist on his desk when he heard the news. "Explain to me, how you LOST someone who was meant to be under twenty-four seven surveillance of the highest security?"

"I'll take that as a compliment, Leon." Erica smirked from the other line. She stood in a public phone booth, curling the cord with around her finger.

Vance growled into the phone.

"I woke up and he was gone." Erica reported.

"Why did you sleep?" Vance barked. "You were supposed to be keeping him under your eye! Not giving him a free ticket out."

Erica dropped the cord from her fingers. "I'll find him, ok!"

Vance rested his elbows against the desk. "No, you won't. We will." Vance slammed the phone down.

Erica scoffed and did the same.

The sun rose finally after what felt like days of waiting. Tony hadn't slept all night. He believed that seeing the sun would cure everything that was going on inside him. Instead all it brought was a bit of light into the small apartment as Tony pulled back the curtain. The pain, confusion and frustration didn't budge. It all stayed perfectly in tack.

Ziva turned over in her bed, feeling the warm early sun on her face. She opened her eyes expecting to find Tony still fast asleep like she did most morning when he had stayed the night. She was still getting used to him not being there anymore.

Holding back tears, Ziva slid out of the sheets and strolled over to the window, pulling back only enough to see the sun climbing over the buildings.

If only she knew Tony was watching the same thing.

Tony watched as the sun reached into the high sky. He desperately wanted to go to Ziva's last night but found McGee a better choice. McGee was good at dealing with shock slowly over a long period of time, spacing it out so he didn't deal with it all at once. Tony didn't want to risk that with Ziva, he wanted to protect her. And right now Tony knew he would have Vance on his ass trying to find him.

Tony turned his head to the small apartment. Something suddenly clicked in his head, making him feel selfish and guilty. If Vance was on his ass, then it wouldn't be long before he found him. And if Vance found Tony at McGee's, then Vance could hurt McGee.

It was suddenly clear to Tony that anyone who even saw him was at danger from Vance.

"Morning'. Did you sleep?" McGee stumbled out of his bedroom in tracksuit pants and a MIT college shirt.

"No. I need to leave." Tony said and crossed the room to the door.

"Woah, hold up." McGee spoke up, stopping Tony from leaving just yet. "Why are you leaving? I thought Vance was looking for you."

"He is, Tim! And that's why I have to leave. By staying here I'm putting you in danger. If Vance finds me with you, god only knows what he'll do." Tony said with his hand on the knob.

McGee was standing by his computer now. It was true what Tony was saying, Vance would most likely kill McGee when he found out he was helping Tony. But Tony had been like a brother to McGee, how could he just let him leave? Tony may think he'd be protecting McGee by leaving, but McGee wanted to be the one who was doing the protecting this time.

"No. I can handle Vance. Besides, you need answers and you won't get them hiding in alleys." McGee moved towards the door. "I know you're trying to protect me, but Tony you're always doing that! Let me protect you for a change."

Tony breathed a quick laugh and turned around. After a minute of starring at McGee while he tried to come up with another arguing point that would let him walk out the door, he realized McGee was right. He didn't like it, but he needed answers and McGee could get them.

Tony sighed, "Don't you have work or something?"

After her morning shower, Ziva had slipped into genie pants and a long sleeved shirt. She intended to spend her day not doing much at all. She was going to watch whatever reruns were on the TV, read a bit and catch up on some work.

Ziva had just sunk herself into her couch when three loud bangs came on her door. She answered it and found Abby standing in the door way with food, drinks and a stack load of movies.

Ziva sighed, "Abby, I do not feel like talk to anyone today."

"I know, which is exactly why I'm here." Abby barged her way through and set everything on Ziva's kitchen top.

Ziva closed the door and searched through what Abby had brought. There was heaps of chocolate and sour worms, Ziva's favorite. The drinks consisted of three packs of Cruisers, another Ziva favorite, a packet of Red Bull and two bottles of soft drink.

Ziva laughed and looked up at Abby as she laid the movies across the rest of the counter. Abby smiled back.

"I don't know about you, but I'm done crying over people I lose. Because no matter how bad I wish, they can never come back."

Ziva looked down and gave a small nod. She agreed. There was no point crying and hating the world over losing Tony. She missed him so much it hurt and for the past three days she had done nothing but be miserable. Not anymore. She would still maurn Tony, but not in the ways she had done in the past. She would celebrate his life and all the years they spent together and all the times that only she and he knew about.

Ziva nodded again, this time with more happiness. "Ok. I agree. No more tears."

"No more tears." Abby agreed with a big smile.

They both laughed until Abby's phone rang. She read the message and suddenly her face dropped.

Tony was walking back and forth around McGee's book shelf. He was thinking things over. He finally had a minute to actually think. He was in a familiar environment and felt safe, a safe place helped him calm his racing mind.

Three things he knew were certain. One, He was no longer human. He had been killed but Vance had brought him back from the dead and now he was a form on Vampire called a 'Hybrid'. Two, he couldn't trust anyone he didn't know, even then he could really only trust the people he had known for as long as he has with Gibbs. And three, with every minute he was here, he was putting everyone he cared about and loved in danger.

Tony had taken a shower after McGee had advised one, pointing out that Tony hadn't had one since the morning of his death. Tony hadn't even thought about that, so a warm shower and a pair of clean clothes felt amazing.

McGee was Googling anything he could think of to help. He had researched 'Vampires' but got hundreds of sites made up of obsessed Vamp wanna-be's, none of which had any real evidence to support their claims of what a 'Vampire' was . He then searched "Hybrid" and got a type of sports car. Tony suggested "Warlock" which lead them to a bunch of witchcraft sites, none having a spell to bring someone back from the dead, turning them into a Hybrid.

"Maybe it's goes way beyond modem day." McGee pitched.

"Erica said they went on a book from way back. And who ever wrote it stopped writing half way through." Tony said from behind the book shelf.

"Well, then we need to find someone who knows about all this stuff."

"And what are you going to say? Hi, I was looking for someone to explain how it's possible for my dead friend to be back alive via a black witch practicing dick who turned him into a Hybrid? Yeah, good luck with that."

Suddenly the door flew open. Abby raced in with Ziva walking in behind.

"McGee! I got your message what's the—"

"Oh, my god." Ziva said as her eyes fell on Tony.


	10. Chapter 9: Immortal

**Chapter 9: Immortal **

Seconds felt more like hours as everyone in the room was as shocked and surprised as each other. Abby and Ziva, for obvious reasons, were beyond shocked to see Tony. Whereas Tony and McGee were surprised to see them.

It had only been a few moments in real time, and in those moments neither Tony nor Ziva had taken eyes off each other.

Ziva broke the gaze, looking to Abby before walking out and slammed the door behind her.

"Ziva!" Tony called and ran after her.

He caught up with Ziva as she reached the end of the hall way McGee's apartment was on.

"Ziva," he repeated, running up to her. "Stop for a second."

He grabbed her arm and tried to spin her around, but Ziva fought back. She pulled her arm up and tried to get out of his grip.

Tony kept his hold and somehow found Ziva's arm and took hold of that too. He kept trying to get her to face him, but even with Ziva's body facing Tony's, she still held her face away as her tears escaped her tightly shut eyes.

"Hey, hey…" Tony set free one arm and used his free hand to take hold of Ziva's face and make him face him. "Ziva, it's me."

Ziva slowly gave up her fight. She stop struggling and let Tony put both his hands on her face. As she opened her eyes Tony took hold of her hands again and putting him to his chest.

"It's me." He repeated.

Tony kept holding her eyes with his, he could only imagine what was going through her mind right now.

Ziva's mind was spinning. How was this possible? She must be dreaming. Yep, that was it. It was all a big dream and she would wake up any moment and cry into her pillow wanting so badly Tony to be here with her.

But as Ziva looked into his eyes and felt his warm body against her fists, she started to believe maybe this was reality.

Ziva unclenched her fists and ran her fingers against the grey shirt over his body. Tony let go of her wrists and let her hands search his chest. They found his shoulders and in a heartbeat, Ziva had wrapped her arms around Tony's neck and was hiding her face in his shoulder. Letting out all the tears she was going to be cried today.

Tony hugged her back and rested his head against hers.

"What the hell is going on, McGee?" Abby exclaimed.

"Abby, I don't understand. Why are you here?"

"Because you sent me a message, telling me to get here pronto. And hey, did it ever occur to you to tell someone Tony's not really dead?"

McGee hesitated. "I didn't message you."

"Yeah, you did McGee. And answer my question!" Abby ordered.

"No, I didn't. Are you sure it was from me?"

"McGee." Abby gave McGee a look that said she wasn't going to answer until he did.

McGee cracked. "Look, I came home and he was here."

"So why didn't you call me?"

McGee sighed, he glanced around him trying to by himself more time to think of an answer. He rested on hand on his hip and the other wiped his mouth. "I had my reasons."

"Reasons? Like what?"

"Well, for starts when you hear your team mate is dead and then you get home and he's standing in your living room, calling you didn't exactly enter my mind."

Abby sighed loudly and dropped herself on McGee's couch. She took a breath, knowing she was being selfish with the questions and decided it was best to aim for another point.

"Is he ok?" she asked. Her voice mellow and sweet.

McGee took a breath and sat on his computer desk. "You have to ask him. If he wants to, he'll tell you everything. But don't expect him too."

The door reopened and Tony and Ziva walked back in hand in hand. Tony lead them through, knowing Abby would have been at McGee's throat.

"Hey." Tony said.

Ziva let go of his hand and sat down next to Abby. She resembled a little girl upset after getting in trouble. Ziva was cautious and made soft movements.

Tony strolled over to stand near McGee.

After glancing at the girls, who had started their own conversation, Tony turned to McGee with cautious eyes.

"What did you tell her?"

McGee shook his head once. "I just said she would have to ask you to explain how you're even here, although I told her not to expect you to be so open."

Tony raised an eye brow and the corner of his mouth. "Why's that?"

McGee shrugged, "you're an open person, Tony, we know. But things like this these aren't something you want a lot of people to know."

Tony nodded. "Yeah, good point." He glanced to Ziva, took a breath then looked back to McGee. "So what do I tell them?"

McGee shrugged, "You don't have to tell them anything, Tony. You can say you got out and got yourself to a hospital."

Tony considered the lie for a moment then shook his head. "No. Too many ways for that to go bad."

"So, what did he say?" Abby whispered to Ziva.

Ziva raised a shoulder then let it drop moments later. "Nothing. Once he got my attention, he told me it was really him. That he didn't want to put me or anyone through this and he wouldn't again, not if he could help it."

Abby thought for a moment. "I watched the tape Ziva. Eventually." Abby glanced to Tony and McGee talking then looked back to Ziva. "Tony died. He was carried into the ambulance in a body bag. There's no way he survived." She glanced back to Tony. "It's impossible for him to be standing here right now."

The two pairs concluded their conversations. McGee looked to the two girls as Tony walked over and leaned against the kitchen bench top.

Ziva met Tony's eyes, and in the softest and most calm voice, she simply said. "Tony…" and that was all that needed to be said.

Tony looked down to the ground, ran his tongue against his bottom lip, glanced to McGee who gave him an encouraging half smile then Tony looked back to Abby and Ziva. He nodded. "Okay."

A tall man, around the age of late 30's, walked through the doors of the NCIS building with bounce in his step. He wore a bluish-gray suit with his hair shaken. He walked straight up to the visitors desk as if he had done it a million times.

The clerk behind the desk looked up when the man laid his hand down on the desk top.

"Hey. Is Special Agent DiNozzo in today?" the man asked.

The clerk stuttered, not knowing what to say. He quickly resorted to protocol. "Uh… and you are, Sir?"

"Mechal Donati. Oh right, you need ID." Mechal searched through his suit jacket and pulled out a drivers license.

The clerk took a quick look and let Mechal put it away. "Why do you need see Agent DiNozzo? Is it urgent."

"Of course it's urgent. Haven't seen my boy all year! I'm finally on a break from the L.A. life and wanted to catch up. So is he in or not?" Mechal leaned against the desk.

Now, the clerk hesitated with his mouth open. A moment later he found his words. "I'm sorry to say, sir. Agent DiNozzo passed away four days ago."

Mechal stared at the clerk for a brief moment. "That's not funny."

The clerk lowered his gaze. "It's not a joke, sir. He was killed. I'm sorry."

"Hey! Mechal!" Jimmy Palmer came walking down the flight of stairs to where Mechal was now standing in shock. "Hey, what's wrong?"

Mechal turned to face Jimmy who was now standing beside him. "Is Tony… dead?"

Jimmy's smile faded. He had been happy to see Mechal, having met him a few time through Tony. Jimmy shook his head. "Yeah."

Mechal was lost for words. His mouth made movement but nothing came out. Finally Mechal gave up, he turned back towards the doors and left.

Mechal sat in his car. He played to words over and over in his head until the anger of hearing them caused him to smack the steering wheel. Reality sunk in and tears began to form under Mechal's eyes. He quickly blinked and covered his eyes with one hand.

He looked up when he heard the passenger door open and saw Jimmy sit in.

"Why didn't I know?" Mechal asked.

Jimmy shrugged. "I figured someone would have called you."

"I'm his emergency contact! They're supposed to call me when things like this happen!"

Jimmy shook his head. "You're not."

"Not what?"

Jimmy looked to Mechal. "His emergency contact. He changed it years ago. It's Gibbs then McGee."

Mechal looked from Jimmy to the front window then back to Jimmy. "Why'd he change it?"

"Why do you think, Mechal? You're always in Los Angeles. He lives… lived here." Jimmy caught himself and having to change his sentence to past tense made the situation all more real for him. He took a breath and continued. "You live on the other side of the country. I don't think Tony could wait five hours for you to fly done."

Mechal looked down to his lap, knowing it was true but hating he had to hear it from someone else after hearing his best friend was dead.

"He was my best friend, Jimmy. We grew up together, we went to school together. He's the closest thing I have to a brother." He took another breath. "Our biggest fight was when I moved to L.A. And when I moved, it was year before I heard from him again." He looked to Jimmy who was having trouble keeping it together. "My biggest fear was losing Tony and I come down here, because we had plans and I found out I have lost him, permanently."

Mechal covered his eyes again for a moment then let out a huge breath.

"Tony's memorial is today at twelve in Washington Park. You should come. Everyone who ever knew Tony is going to be there and I think it would be good for them to hear from his brother."

Jimmy smiled at Mechal, who smiled back. "What? You mean like let out all his deep dark dirty secrets?"

They laughed for a minute then Jimmy reopened the door and hopped out. Before he closed it he stuck his head back in.

"Just come. Okay?"

Mechal smiled. "Washington Park. At twelve."

Jimmy nodded and closed the door.


	11. Chapter 10: Dreaming for Reality

**Chapter 10: Dreaming for Reality **

"It was like I'd been asleep. I knew I had died, I remember dying but when I woke up it was like nothing had happened. Then there was Vance,"

"Vance?" Abby questioned.

Tony nodded. "Yeah, he was there. He said he brought me back as a Hybrid. He said anyone practicing black magic could bring someone back to life by casting a spell over their dead body. But they had to of had died a violent death. Then he took me to see this guy who said I'd be going through transition. A row of stages and Stage one was waking up and it just got harder from there. " Tony shifted his weight against the kitchen bench. "Then the opportunity came up and I escaped. I got help from this woman who ended up being a lying bitch. Then from there I ended up a block from McGee's and came here. He came home and was about as shocked as you guys were and you know the rest."

It took a moment for the girls to catch their breaths. They glanced at each other and exchanged looks of confusion.

"So are you… human?" Abby asked.

Tony hesitated. He took a breath and slowly shook his head. "Probably not."

Ziva left out a sigh. Tony's eyes fell to her. They made eye contact and the silent conversation Tony and Ziva had next with their eyes spoke louder than words. When Ziva broke the gaze, Tony looked down, finding his mood drop more and more with every minute.

"So, Vance right? He's who brought you back to life?" Abby spoke.

Tony crossed his arms. "I guess that's one way of putting it. I prefer to think of it as a pain in the ass."

Ziva shot up from the couch and drifted over to the window. She glanced outside then turned and rested her back against the wall.

Tony looked towards her but knew not to say anything. He was fearing Ziva would end their relationship and want nothing to do with him.

"Hybrid…" Abby said quietly to herself, her mind deep in thought.

"Huh?" McGee asked, not quite hearing her.

Suddenly, Abby shot up from the couch and walked over to Tony, looking closely at his eyes.

"Abby?" Tony asked wryly.

Abby smiled and pulled out her phone from her pocket. She let the light of the screen reflect on Tony's eyes.

McGee saw what Abby had clearly been trying to confirm and his eyes lit up. "Whoa!"

He shot to his feet and stood beside Abby.

"What?" Tony asked.

Abby put her phone down and smiled up at him. "Your eyes. They have a gold ring around the iris."

"What does that mean?"

"Well it's probably how they can keep track of people like you. I mean, someone having gold in their eye isn't exactly normal. It'd be easy to spot you out among everyone else." McGee said.

"Great." Tony said sarcastically. "Now I've got glowing eyes."

Abby giggled.

"We should go." Ziva said from the other side of the room.

Everyone looked at her questionably until Abby looked at her phone for the time.

"Oh, we better too. It starts in an hour."

"What does?" Tony asked.

"Your memorial," Ziva said. She pushed off the wall and started to walk across the room, "because to the rest of the world, you're dead."

She came to a stop in front of him. Ziva couldn't make eye contact with him; to her it didn't feel right. The man she loved died four days ago. She knew the same Tony was standing before her now, but it just wasn't the same. She felt betrayed. She had mourned him since hearing the news and for him to be standing here now, acting like everything was fine… it wasn't right. Ziva needed to think things over. She needed to be sure she wanted to associate with this Tony.

Ziva took a breath and walked passed Tony.

"Hey," Tony said, gently brushing his fingers against Ziva's arm. She turned and now finally looked up at him. "You alright?" It was a stupid question, of course she wasn't! But he just wanted her to talk to him.

Ziva sighed and leaned against the bench from the corner. "I need to think."

"Think? Think about what?" Tony forced a half smile, like there was nothing wrong going on.

Ziva swallowed. The back of her fingers fell against Tony's hip. She looked up into Tony's eyes and saw the gleam of the gold ring around the green.

"Tony… to me, you died four days ago. And this? This is just a dream to me, a dream that can never be reality."

Tony shifted, not believing the words he was hearing. "Ziva…"

"We'll talk later." Ziva interrupted.

Abby and McGee had been waiting by the door, content in their own conversation.

"Yeah, we're meeting Gibbs at the park to help set up." Abby said when Ziva stepped away from Tony.

Tony looked like he wanted to come, but there would be endless things wrong with him showing up at his own memorial.

"Just stay here," McGee warned. "Don't leave. Ok? I'll be back in a few hours."

"Yes Mom. " Tony remarked.

McGee rolled his eyes.

The group left with nothing else said. Tony caught Ziva's eye a finale time before the door closed. He was afraid the "talk later" was an easier way to say "we're breaking up".

Tony sighed and sunk down on the couch; he let his head fall back and closed his eyes. He hadn't gotten any proper sleep since waking up and weirdly, he wasn't really that tired. Just exhausted He hadn't had a coughing fit in a few hours but that didn't mean he wasn't feeling the pain. He just refused to let it show.

But not that he was alone; he cringed and tried to force the pain away by resting.

"Have you made any progress?" Vance asked. He was at his desk, on the phone to Elijah and Doctor Szlesky.

"We haven't tracked his exact location yet." Elijah reported.

"But I do suggest we get a move on. Anthony has been out of our care for far too long," said Doctor Szlesky. "Once he left our premises his body stopped the transition, everything he had experienced will be lost, but that can only last for so long. If we do not find him soon, his body will re-begin the finale stage and when that happens, he needs to be in our care."

"What will happen if he's not?" Vance asked. "What will happen, exactly?"

"It shall be like all growing coming at one time. In the time of an hour he will go through stages two to five all at once. "

"Are you saying that he'll repeat every stage?" Vance asked.

"Precisely. Every amount of pain and exhaustion that his body endured before will be repeated, then he will feel the effects of the finale stage. He will have a similar experience in which he did when suffering the plague; a coughing fit will lead to the sputum of blood, his breath will be shortened and his body will slowly begin to shut down. " Doctor Szlesky took a breath. "But I fear, that is not to my exact calculations."

"What'cha talking about Doc?" Elijah asked.

"We have never had a transitioning Hybird leave our facility. We have never had a Hybrid not consume blood before entering the final stage. If Anthony does not drink blood before entering stage five, I fear we shall lose him, permanently. "

The trio fell silent over the phones for a moment.

"We need to find him." Elijah spoke, voicing the thought on all three minds.

"He won't be by himself. DINozzo is smart but he most likely found refuge in a teammate." Vance said. "His memorial is in a half hour. Elijah, do you think you can get here by then?"

"I can." Elijah confirmed. "What are you thinking Leon?"

"DiNozzo will not come back to us voluntarily. If we find out who he's staying with, we can warn them about what's going to happen if we don't get him back. "

"That is a risky move, Leon." Doctor Szlesky warned.

"I know. But the last thing we need is a dead Hybrid."

"Hey, Boss." McGee greeting as he, Ziva and Abby walked up to Gibbs who was sitting on a black fold out chair.

The park was set out perfectly. There were three stands of photo collage's standing behind a small table with a framed photo of Tony and three candles of all different sizes burning in front of it. The photos all stood as reminders of how social and alive Tony was. In every photo he was smiling or laughing, always with the feel of a party around him.

Gibbs had been looking at them, taking in each one individually and remembering Tony's sarcastic remarks and childish behavior. One of the larger photos in the left college was a photo of him and Tony. Gibbs remembered the day well. The team had been at the bar after work, it was around one am. They were both drunk and laughing hysterically at something Gibbs had said. McGee had taken the photo randomly but was grateful now for capturing the moment.

Gibbs smiled, remembering that to be one of his favorite moments knowing Tony. He drew his attention away from the photo and greeted the three who all took up spots beside Gibbs.

The park was already filling with friends, family and work colleagues of Tony's. They were all assembled in little groups, scattered around the area. Most were wearing casual clothing but a few were wearing funeral attire. Tony had been opposed to funerals, he knew being Italian would mean a big funeral and he didn't want everyone he loved crying over him. A memorial felt better, it was a casual meeting to say goodbye and celebrate his life.

McGee took a quick scan of the all the groups and was happy to see majority of the people were smiling and laughing. Then his eyes fell on someone who wasn't smiling or laughing, someone who was wearing a black suit and wore the saddest expression.

Tony's father walked up to the group.

Gibbs stood and shook his hand. After a beat, he gave his condolences. "I'm sorry for your lose, Mister DiNozzo. Your son was a remarkable person."

Senior nodded. "Thank you, Agent Gibbs."

Both Ziva and Abby hugged Senior and McGee shook his hand as Gibbs had, with all giving their condolences, with Senior sending his back.

"Anthony?" said a voice from behind Senior.

Senior turned around to see Mechal walking up to the group.

"Ah, Mechal. It's been too long."

The pair hugged and patted each other's backs.

"It has," Mechal agreed, "wish we didn't have to run into each other at something like this."

Senior nodded.

"I'm sorry for your lose." Mechal added.

"Our lose. " Senior corrected. "Tony considered you to be his brother."

"And he mine. " Mechal ended.

Senior introduced Mechal to the team and briefly explained how Mechal and Tony knew each other. Neither one of them could get over the remarkable resemblance between the two, both with dark hair, green eyes, same height and stance. They really could have been brothers.

After a few more minutes of chatting and getting to know each other. Vance had arrived and stood in front of the microphone beside the photo display. He tapped the mic and asked everyone to take their seats.

Tony sat up on the couch, his breathing became labored. He started to take quick short breaths as his head became hot and sweaty.


	12. Chapter 11: Memorial

**Chapter 11: Memorial**

Vance began the memorial by handing the microphone over to Tony's father who had flown in from Monte Carlo for the occasion.

Senior looked at the photo display, his eyes fell over the collages before finally resting on the main photo of his son amongst a display of candles. He took a breath and looked up to the large crowd of people who had come from all over to say goodbye to Tony. Senior even noticed a few relatives who had flown in from Italy.

He cleared his throat and began. "I never imagined I would be in this situation. I never imagined I would have to say farewell to my son." He took a deep breath. "Anthony was such a bright and lively person, he always felt the need to be social which often got him into a bit of trouble."

The crowd hummed a short laugh.

"We're all here today because Anthony came into our lives and turned our world around."

Senior saw a few heads nod in agreement.

"He… he gave us the strength to put ourselves out into the world and not care what people would say. And when we were with him, even for five minutes, our day would be much better. He always had something positive to say, something to make us laugh or roll our eyes and shake our heads."

Another hum of laughter came from the crowd.

"I regret not knowing my son better and I am thankful he had all of you in his life. I want to thank you all for coming today. It's comforting to know Anthony had so many people who loved him." Senior's eyes fell onto Tony's team. "Everyone here today, Anthony considered you all his family." His eyes fell to Mechal, "And I know you all felt the same way about him. " More heads nodded. "I..." Senior caught himself as his tears started to flow. He looked to Gibbs and nodded. "I'm going to hand you over to a great importance in Tony's life. Thank you all for coming."

Gibbs stood and walked around the outside

The crowd applauded as Senior stood away from the microphone. Gibbs put a hand on seniors shoulder as they passed. He stepped behind the microphone and quickly glanced the photos quickly before starting his speech.

"For everyone who doesn't know me my name is Special Agent Jethro Gibbs. I've been Tony's boss for the past nine years. I first met Tony in two-thousand and two when he was working for Baltimore Police Department as a Homicide Detective. We crossed paths when a case forced the joint effort Baltimore and NCIS. He, much like myself, was a team leader. We both had our own teams and both had unusual ways of running them."

Ziva leaned over to McGee, "I did not know Tony used to have his own team."

McGee nodded in agreement.

Gibbs smiled, "One of the things he would do was pull his team into a huddle that he called a camp fire. Something he did with our team when he was left in charge while I went a way for a while."

"Ooh." Abby, Ziva and McGee sighed, now understanding why he did the camp fire.

"He showed qualities of leader ship, understanding and being quick on his feet and mind. He connected dots and put two and two together a lot faster than any one I'd ever worked with. And when in dangerous situations, his improvised plans turned out to have a higher success rate than plans that normally took hours to come up with." Gibbs took a breath. "After the case was closed I spoke to him quietly about coming over to NCIS and working for me. The following week I was interviewing him for the job. Tony has been the best Agent I have ever had the privilege of working with and over the years I've gotten to know Tony very well. As I'm sure you're all aware, he is a remarkable person. First impressions don't generally count with him."

Few members of the crowd nodded.

"We should tell him," Abby whispered to McGee.

"No, we shouldn't." McGee whispered back then saw Vance sitting a few seats down beside Abby. His face grew stern.

Abby saw the change of expression and followed McGee's gaze. She took a breath when she saw Vance and exchanged a concerned look with McGee.

Gibbs concluded his speech by extending his condolences to the NCIS Agents among the crowd and extending NCIS's condolences to Senior and Tony's family, although he didn't know which Tony's family was but he made a mental note to seek out at least one of Tony's relatives other than his father.

Mechal stood up next and gave a quick speech about how close he and Tony were and how losing Tony was the equivalent to what it must be like to lose a real brother. He expressed how alike they were and explained how after being mistaken so many times as being brothers that they both finally started introducing themselves as brothers and then only later would explain they weren't actually related. Mechal spoke briefly of Tony's musical past and how Tony would often put his thoughts and messages into his lyrics.

"He's my brother," Mechal said, coming to the end of his speech. "And I'll be honest I'll probably go home, drink a bit and get really upset over losing him. But Tony wants us to celebrate him, not mourn and that's what we'll do. That's what today is all about. We're going to meet the important people in Tony's life, share our favorite moments and laugh about stupid he could be."

The crowd laughed above a hum this time.

"And once all the formal stuff Is done I'm going to run back to my car, find a CD with some of Tony's recorded songs on them and play for you all, because I know he'd hate that."

Mechal laughed and stepped away from the microphone. Pleased to leave the crowd with smiles on their faces.

The formal speeches ended with a man reciting a quick pray in Italian for the non-English speaking attendees. The man then rested a rosary amongst the candles in front of Tony's framed photo.

To the side of the memorial service was a three long tables lines in a U shape with food covering every inch of the white table cloth. People stood from the chairs and started to gather food and return to their small groups. Many did make an effort to introduce themselves to someone they didn't know and many strangers began groups and got to know each other through Tony.

As McGee stood and walked towards the tables, Vance stood from his chair and stopped him.

"Agent McGee, may I have a word?"

McGee nodded and the two stepped out of the way of people.

Abby and Ziva noticed and shot McGee cautious looks but continued to the tables with Gibbs.

"Yes, Director?" McGee asked, trying to keep calm and speak as if he had no idea why Vance had pulled him over.

Vance studied him for a moment, confirming his thoughts. He nodded, "I know you know."

McGee shifted his weight and tightened his eye brows. "Sir?"

"DiNozzo, I know you know he's not really dead." Vance said quietly, lowering his voice even more at the last words.

"Agent DiNozzo was killed four days, sir. That is why we are all here today."

"Yes. But I know you've seen him since then."

McGee stayed quiet. He couldn't think of anything to say. Shit! Did Vance know Tony was at his apartment?

Vance took the silence as defeat. "He needs to be in my care."

"He's fine." McGee snapped.

Vance grinned, liking the reaction he was getting from McGee. It confirmed his thoughts and now he knew for sure where Tony was. "When he left our facility his body stopped the transition but it will begin again and when that happens he needs to be in my care."

"Thanks for the advise." McGee said sarcastically and went to walk away.

Vance caught his arm.

"Don't cause a scene, Director." McGee warned.

They were still standing among the crowd, just off to the side in the less populated area and everyone around seemed content in their small conversations.

Vance let go of McGee a beat later. "You have my number."

McGee walked off a second later and joined his group. Vance looked to the back of the park to where the cars a few people were. Elijah stood there looking at Vance. Vance nodded to him and he nodded back and drifted his eyes to McGee for a moment before back away, crossing the road to his car and driving off.

Vance turned back to the crowd and redressed himself as the Director of a Federal Agency who was attending the memorial of a fallen Agent.

"Does he know?" Abby whispered when McGee re joined her.

McGee nodded. "All he wants is Tony back." McGee whispered back.

They collected their food and stood near the photo display, away from the crowd.

"He said, Tony's body stopped the transition when he left the facility and that it would start up again and when that happened he should be with Vance. It's all bullshit, Abby."

"I know," Abby looked down.

"Hey guys." Mechal walked over to the pair.

"Hi, uh, Mechal… right?" McGee greeted.

Mechal smiled. "That's me. Tim, right? And Abby?"

They both nodded.

"Yeah, Tony talked about you guys. A lot! Especially Ziva, which one is she again?" Mechal said as he turned hs head back to the crowd.

Abby gestured to Ziva who standing beside Gibbs in amongst a few other people. "She's wearing the cream sweater, with her hair down."

"Wow, she is beautiful." Mechal said then turned his back to them both. "So, were you guys with Tony when he… you know?"

McGee shook his head. "No. Guy came out of nowhere when Tony was walking to his car."

Mechal sighed and looked down. "You know I didn't even know he was dead. I came to NCIS this morning hoping to force him to pull a sickie. Then the desk clerk told me and Jimmy…" he took a breath. "I haven't had time to wrap my head around it."

Abby rubbed his arm. "How come we're only meet you now?"

"I live in Los Angeles. Tony and I talk… talked on the phone all the time but we'd only ever see each other once every couple months and that was normally in Miami or when we rocked up for no reason, like I did today." Mechal answered.

Mechal looked at McGee, who had been staring at him. "You ok?"

McGee shock himself out of his gaze. "Oh, I'm sorry. I just can't get over how much you look like him."

Mechal gave a half smile. "Yeah, makes you wonder doesn't it? What if we were separated at birth or something?" Mechal laughed.

"Well if you were, they did a crappy job at keeping you apart." McGee added.

Mechal smiled and turned his body left incline. "I'm going to go say hi to Ziva. It was good meeting you guys, finally."

"You too." Abby said and McGee nodded.

Mechal left and walked up to Ziva, drawing her attention away from the group by gently touching her back and introducing himself once she turned around.

Once the memorial was over, McGee drove Abby and Ziva home. The drive had been a good chance for the trio to update each other on what they got out of the memorial. McGee told Ziva about his chat with Vance, Ziva shrugged it off and before she left the car, she had asked McGee to not let Tony call her and that she would call him when she was ready.

When it came time to drop Abby off, she had urged McGee to call her if anything happened. McGee had assured her everything would be fine.

But when McGee reached home, his confidence was non–existent.

Tony was sitting against the wall across from the bookshelf with his knees to his chest and his hands gripping his head tightly. All the lights were off and there was furniture against the windows, keeping the curtain pinned to the wall so as little light possible could only seep through.

McGee hesitantly walked around to the couch, so he could see Tony from a safe distance. "Tony?"

Tony groaned and pushed his head back against the wall. He was grinding his teeth together and his eyes were tightly shut. The pain shooting through Tony was more excruciating then before, so much that his ability to think and control himself was numbed.

McGee hurried to his aid and dropped to the floor in front of him. He reached a hand out to Tony's arm but didn't move it. He knew a glass of water wouldn't work this time. He knew what he had to do and he hated himself for it.

"Hold on, Tony. You're going to be ok. Just hold on." McGee reassured as he dug his hand into his pocket. He dialed a number and put the phone to his ear.

"Director Van—"

"I'll tell you where he is, as long as you agree to my one condition." McGee interrupted.

"What's the condition?" Vance asked.

"He stays with me. You don't take him, you don't kill him. You help him then leave him alone."

After a moment Vance spoke again. "Agreed. An associate of mine is on their way."

McGee hung up and dropped the phone back in his pocket. "You'll be ok, Tony. You'll be ok."


End file.
